Story of enlightenment.

One day, a tiger was walking around the forest. Suddenly, he saw a fox and caught it. He thought, “I will have an enjoyable lunch today.”

However, the cunning fox knew that he would be doomed if he didn’t lie. He told the tiger, “I am one sent by the king of heaven. If you eat me, the king will not forgive you, as I went sent by him to be the king of the forest.”

The tiger replied, “Prove that you’re the king of the animals.”

The fox said, “Just follow me, and see how the other animals treat me.”

The tiger followed the fox deep into the forest, and on the way, they saw rabbits, goats, deer, and bears. When they saw the tiger, they were afraid and ran for their lives. After they had walked around, the fox proudly told the tiger, “You see? All the animals in the forest fear me.” What the tiger didn’t realize was that they were actually afraid of him. But he believed the fox’s lie and the fox escaped his fate of being eaten.

The fox not only escaped the fate of being eaten but also got to strut around the forest as if he was feared as much as the tiger.

The image is fromhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/07/06/dalai-lama-birthday-lessons_n_7697616.html

A Hong Kong reporter had the chance to have a dialogue with the Dalai Lama, and it is quite inspiring. The questions asked and the answers are below:

Q: Is it necessary to go after what has been lost?
The Dalai Lama said: The things that were lost never really belonged to you, anyway, so neither should you regret it, nor pursue it.

Q: Our lives are often tiring, so how can we relax?
The Dalai Lama said: Life is indeed tiring, but remember that only a small part is trying to survive, the bigger part comes from desire and comparison.

Q: How should we grasp yesterday and today?
Dalai said: Don’t let yesterday take up more of today.

Q: How do you treat yourself, and treat others?
Dalai said: Be good to yourself because a lifetime is not long. Be good to the people around you, because you won’t be able to meet them in your next life.

Q: How do you interpret politeness?
Dalai said: A “Sorry” shows sincerity, but a “No sweat” shows a kind demeanor. If you are sincere but do not have a kind demeanor in return, it only shows the ignorance and vulgarity of the other.

Q: How do we find our goals?
Dalai said: If you know where to go, the world will make way for you.

Q: How do we balance happiness with sadness?
The Dalai said: One person has only one heart, yet that heart has two atria. In one there lives happiness, and in another, sorrow. So do not laugh too loud. Otherwise, you will wake up the sadness.

Q: How can we be down to earth?
The Dalai said: For as long as your feet are on the ground, don’t do not make light of yourself too much. As long as you are living on earth, don’t make yourself too big.

Q: Some people say that time will dilute love, what do you think?
Dalai said: Love makes people forget time, while time makes people forget love.

Q: If two people love each other but can not be together, what should they do?
Dalai said: If they cannot be together, let it be. Life is not that long anyway.

The original text of this article was in Chinese, and the author is unknown.

During an enemy attack, a soldier found a cave to take cover in. The enemy was trying to chase him so he went into the cave, praying that they wouldn’t see him there. All of a sudden, he felt a spider bite him. He was about to kill the spider, but he felt merciful and let the spider go. The spider climbed over to the opening of the cave and started to spin the web over the entrance. The enemy came up to the cave and saw that the web was untouched, so they figured nobody was in the cave. Thus, the soldier’s life was saved.

Enlightenment: Sometimes, when we help others we end up helping ourselves as well.

A father lost his pocket watch and searched everywhere for it. But, try as he might, he couldn’t find it after many hours. After he had left the room, his son came in and found it right away. His father asked, “How did you discover it?” He replied, “I just sat there quietly until I could hear the tick-tock, tick-tock of the clock.”

Enlightenment: Sometimes, if we are too busy and anxious trying to find something we want, we fail. But if we quiet down, we not only get what we want, but we also hear our inner voice.

There was a traveler who stopped by a temple and saw a monk. He asked him, “Before you became an enlightened monk, what do you do?” The monk replied, “I chop wood, carry water, and cook.” The traveler said, “What about after you became a monk? What do you do now?” The monk said, “I chop wood, carry water, and cook.” The traveler asked, “So there is no difference?” The old monk said, “Before becoming a monk, when I chop wood, I would worry about carrying water. When I carried the water, I would worry about cooking. When I was cooking, I would worry about chopping wood. But after becoming a monk, when I chop the wood, I just chop the wood. When I carry the water, I just carry the water. When I cook, I just cook.”

Enlightenment: If a person doesn’t like what they are doing, no matter how talented or smart they are, they cannot fully develop their potential. But if they like what they do, then you will be surprised to see how much their ability has increased. A lot of times, if we don’t achieve something, it is not because we are not capable. It may not be in our favor or our interest.

During the Second World War, a Jewish family was being prosecuted. The family’s two sons went out to seek help. The older son looked for someone who helped him before while, the younger one went to look for someone he had helped before. In the end, the older son was rescued, but the younger son was betrayed.

Enlightenment: Whoever loves you will continue to help you willingly. But whomever you love will not necessary always do the same.

A robin was flying to the east when he met a dove. They rested on a tree, and the dove asked the robin where he was going. He replied, “I don’t want to leave. But the residents of this neighborhood said that my song is ugly.” The dove said, “Don’t try so hard. If you can never change your voice, wherever you go, you will not be welcome .”

A donkey fell into a dry well. People tried to save him, but it was impossible, so they decided to bury the donkey there. At first, the donkey cried sadly when he felt the soil on his back, after a while; he fell silent. Then the donkey started to shake off the dirt when it hit his back and stomped it under his foot. Gradually, the soil under his feet made him move higher and higher. With the increased height, he was able to jump out of the well, to everyone’s surprise.

Enlightenment: When life throws challenges at us, we have a choice. We can cry, complain, and idle. Or we can take action by shaking off the dirt that is thrown on us and move upward.

Making a crisis into something favorable is possible. A crisis can also be a turning point.

A young man is determined to be a pastor.
In the United States, if you want to become a pastor, you need to pass an examination, one of which involves public speaking.
The young man came half a month early to the testing center, and he stayed in a hotel room to prepare his speech.
After he had written the speech, he read it aloud in the room every day, until he could even recite it backwards fluently.

He was well prepared and full of confidence to take the test on the day of examination. He picked up a random number, sat down, and listened to the speeches by the candidates before him.
There was one person before him, and he was surprised to discover that the presentation of the individual on the stage was the same as his!
Looking more closely at the person, he realized that the man had lived the hotel room next to his.
There was no doubt that the candidate had eavesdropped on his loud reciting in his hotel room, and had then plagiarized his speech.
The student tried to suppress his anger and panic, desperately looking for a way out.
Suddenly, a light came upon him; he found a way.
He went to the stage calmly and gave his speech.
His speech was received with warm applause, and he passed the exam at the end.
How did he do it?
Do you want to know how he did it?

This is what he said:
“To be a pastor, you need to be patient, able to listen, and capable of memorizing.
I will now demonstrate that I can repeat the previous speech word for word. ”
He began to recite the speech that he had practiced diligently. His speech was more exciting than that of the previous candidate, and the audience gave him warm applause.

This serves as an excellent example of making a crisis into a favorable turning point. It is done by staying calm and composed to deal with it at a time of peril.

At the end of the road, you can still keep going. Sometimes reaching that point makes you even stronger.

In the fields of Africa, sometimes you will see herds of antelopes start to run as lions and cheetahs start to chase them. Adult antelopes will lead the younger antelopes as they move, speeding like an arrow, towards steep mountains.

Scientists often observe that the mountains that the antelopes run to are often very steep, bare, and jagged peaks. When chased, antelopes will head towards these places. As cheetahs and lions get close to them, the leader of the antelopes will leap away in a moment and lead the whole herd to the nearest mountain.

When adult antelopes run, they are like lightning, and even lions and cheetahs cannot catch them. Antelopes will simply keep moving, and even the cheetahs that dash are left behind.

Why would antelopes choose a steep mountain cliff when threatened? When a young antelope learns how to run, their stamina is not as great, and their ribcages are not well developed yet, constricting their breathing. Even if the young antelope runs as fast as it can, it can only jump forward about 3 feet at a time.

When a young antelope is lead by an adult antelope towards the mountains, with lions and cheetahs behind them, the antelopes face the cliff and no other way out. But because their bodies are very small and move fast, they will not injure themselves much on the jagged rocks as they move forward.

But the lions and cheetahs that chase them are heavy and large, and they often cannot catch up while on the rocks.

The young antelopes end up pulling their muscles because they are not yet developed but were needed for them to jump across the rocks. However, they recover quickly, and their jumping space increases as a result. The young antelope can now jump forward almost 4 feet at a time. Lions and cheetahs are unable to catch up with them. Through this, scientists finally understand why the antelopes give themselves a cliff.

You should give yourself and your life a cliff, and though it seems as if it is a dead end, it will improve you because that dead end might lead to a miracle or magic. Give your life a chance to make a miracle. Nature has its reasons as to why things are created the way they are. Lions are given strong, sharp claws to catch prey, but antelopes are given speed to escape. Adult antelopes lead young antelopes to mountains to develop them further so they can survive.

“Injury sometimes helps growth. Try to understand and get familiar with your strengths. To fully develop it will give you tremendous accomplishment.”